The Return to Hogwarts

Perhaps intimidated by the Dark Lord's ruthlessness, Old Nott, whose skills were far less agile than they had been a decade ago, was frighteningly efficient. Just an hour later, he returned to Malfoy Manor and rushed into the room under Lucius's suddenly clenched gaze.

"I've figured it out, Master. I've gotten everything out of that fairy—oh, I mean, everything she saw—using the Imperius Curse!"

Old Nott exclaimed excitedly, and before the Dark Lord could ask, he recounted in detail the information he had extracted from the goblin's head.

The moment Old Nott began his narration, Voldemort, whose face was cold and stern, breathed a sigh of relief. It was all a false alarm. Blaine hadn't come from the vault where his other Horcrux was hidden, and he hadn't noticed anything amiss in the notebook!

But as Old Nott unfolded the information he had obtained, Voldemort's expression gradually turned from surprise and doubt to anger.

"You mean, Blaine opened the vaults of the great Salazar Slytherin? That's impossible. If my great ancestor left behind a vault, then I would know. Are you lying to me, Nott?"

Voldemort's chilling tone was like a bucket of cold water poured over old Nott's head, overwhelming the self-righteous Nott with fear once again.

“I swear to you, my master, this is what I saw in the fairy’s memories!”

Old Nott spoke tremblingly, fearing he wouldn't have a chance to finish telling everything, so he quickly revealed everything he knew.

After hearing all this, not only was Lucius completely bewildered, but even Voldemort narrowed his eyes, filled with confusion.

"Brain didn't take any treasure from that vault?"

"According to me... oh, this is what happened in the fairy's memory. Blaine calmed the magma riot with a potion, and then, as I just told you, it saw many emeralds flying out of the solidifying magma, forming strange shapes in front of Amosta. Amosta tried to destroy them with magic, but failed. In the end, the emeralds and that inexplicable cloud disappeared, and Blaine got nothing—"

Old Nott said cautiously,

"Perhaps Salazar Slytherin did not want to give the Mudbloods the opportunity to peek into his wealth."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed smaller and smaller until they were just narrow slits.

"Is there anything else, Nott?"

"And more. And more."

Old Nott racked his brains, thinking...

"Oh, I was eavesdropping in the alley when Blaine and the girl he brought back left Gringotts. Please forgive me, Diagon Alley was crowded, and I didn't dare get too close, but I think I heard Blaine say that he would start preparing for the Triwizard Tournament once he returned to Hogwarts."

"A three-way battle for supremacy, huh!"

Voldemort's expression turned slightly cold as he recalled the humiliating scene that had occurred during his resurrection ceremony. However, a hint of smugness resurfaced in his crimson eyes as he thought of something else.

“Brain wants to use the Triwizard Tournament to boost his prestige. Oh, he can do all that futile work, but I’ll focus on things that are more worthwhile, Nott. I have other tasks for you.”

Looking at the terrified old Nott, Voldemort said softly,

“Go find McNeil and Avery, and tell them they must complete my orders before the Triwizard Tournament. As a reward for the resurrection ceremony, I also want to give Blaine and Dumbledore a surprise. And you, Lucius—”

Malfoy, who was also kneeling on the ground, felt his heart leap into his throat. He didn't know if the information Nott brought back satisfied the Dark Lord. If not, then the Malfoy family was doomed.

But the Dark Lord's next words made him breathe a huge sigh of relief.

"I need you to come with me to Gringotts. I need to see the Malfoy family vault with my own eyes under the pretext of going there. After that, you will go to Hogwarts."

"To Hogwarts?"

Malfoy asked cautiously.

“I can’t let the Death Eaters who are still loyal to me leave Hogwarts so often; Dumbledore will become suspicious. Go see him, Lucius, and let him find out what those emeralds Blaine encountered were. Severus told me that he’s closer to Blaine than Dumbledore is, and I think he’ll find out for the Dark Lord.”

Chapter 982 The next arrangements

A light rain that fell in the evening took away the anxiety in the air.

As night fell, perhaps because the torches hanging on the walls burned too brightly, the atmosphere in the quiet physical education classroom always exuded a unique intensity. Even the two rows of dilapidated and listless statues on the walls tried their best to stand up straight.

Dozens of young wizards from four houses, now considered elites, stood tall and eagerly facing the classroom door, full of energy.

The moment the tightly closed classroom door was pushed open, the previously quiet classroom erupted in a deafening roar of shouts and enthusiastic applause, creating a whirlwind that even caused the raging flames to visibly deform!

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Amostashir walked to the center of the young wizards, carefully looking at each of their slightly resolute faces, and finally, revealed a gentle smile.

"I'm glad I still have the opportunity to teach you PE, because Professor McGonagall told me today that she had planned to remove irresponsible troublemakers like me from the teaching team two weeks ago, so as to prevent me from corrupting the other professors."

Another burst of cheerful laughter rang out, and amidst the commotion, Ernie from the Hufflepuff student group raised his hand and shouted,

“My father wrote to tell me that the Magical Congress of America intends to invite you to be the director of their security department. I told him that was impossible, that you wouldn’t abandon us!”

“Oh, thank you for your trust, Mr. McMillan—”

Amosta smiled gently.

"The truth is that I couldn't reach an agreement with Samuel Kohauer, the president of the Magical Congress of the United States, on the issue of salary, so I came back here."

Harry grinned, his heart, which had been in turmoil for some time, quickly calming down at Professor Blaine's humorous jokes.

"My dad told me that you helped the Magical Congress of the United States defeat a group of vampires!"

Cedric's handsome face also flushed with excitement.

"Could you tell us in detail, Professor, who is stronger, them or the werewolves?"

“There’s not much to say, Mr. Diggory—” Amosta shrugged, spreading his hands, and continued smiling.

"Perhaps I'm better at destroying evil forces; in any case, I didn't feel any difference between the two."

"He's so cool!"

Fred whistled loudly, and then joined the others in clapping enthusiastically.

However, the handsome face under the flickering firelight, coupled with his deep eyes and the understated humility he displayed despite having accomplished something remarkable, truly captivated the young wizards.

Many girls stared at Amostella with admiring eyes. Harry, who glanced at Hermione, suddenly paused. He noticed that Hermione's eager gaze was somewhat familiar. After a moment's thought, he realized that it seemed to be the look in Hermione's eyes when she first met Gilderoy Lockhart, that big liar.

"Alright, thank you all very much for still welcoming me as the professor for this course. So, Miss Granger?"

Amosta called out Hermione's name.

Hermione, who was listening intently to Professor Blaine's speech, was not expected to be called on suddenly. She answered somewhat flusteredly, pushed past Draco Malfoy who was standing in front of her, and went to the front.

"I think the class was running fairly well while I was away, Miss Granger?"

"Well--"

Hermione nodded, took a breath, and answered crisply.

“Everything is normal, Professor Blaine. No one is absent. Luna is in charge of supervising the daily running exercises to make sure no one is slacking off, while Neville is in charge of maintaining order during physical education class. Um, I'm in charge of answering some questions when we practice spells in our armor. But without you, we can't conduct our encirclement and counter-encirclement training.”

“That’s good enough, Miss Granger—”

Amosta nodded in satisfaction, dismissing Hermione and sending her back to the group of students. Then, he scrutinized the young wizards who were looking at him eagerly.

"Before today's training begins, I'd like to tell you about some of my plans--"

Amosta paced back and forth in front of the students as he spoke.

"First of all, as I told you before, physical education classes will officially end before the end of this semester, and there will be an exam before that ends."

"What could that be, Professor Blaine?"

Hermione always pays extra attention when it comes to anything related to exams, especially physical education, because unlike other academic subjects, she is confident that she can handle it.

"The specific content of the exam."

Amosta gave Hermione a meaningful look, then smiled and said...

"I will tell you all in advance, but not today. What I can tell you now is that this exam will be very exciting."

After waiting for the young wizards to whisper amongst themselves for a while, Amostella continued,

"Starting next year, physical education will be officially included as an elective course for third-year students. At that time, I will screen the new third-year students who intend to participate in physical education training to determine who is capable of conquering the course. What's wrong, Miss Greengrass?"

Amosta paused, looking at Astoria who had raised her hand.

"I'll be a third-year student next year, Professor Blaine—"

Astoria blinked and asked in a clear voice,

Does this mean I have the opportunity to go through the training all over again?

"Oh, that's true,"

Amosta said gently,

"But I don't recommend that you continue to enroll in the new course. It won't be as intense as what you experienced. I plan to spread the training over three years, allowing the new students to adapt gradually."

"Since you're already keeping up with this year's course, Miss Greengrass, just maintain your regular training. There's really no need to start all over again. Of course, I respect your decision—"

In fact, given the opportunity, most people would be happy to follow the new course to consolidate their skills. Therefore, many people cast envious glances at Astoria, who blinked her eyes and pondered for a few seconds before nodding and returning to Draco's side.

"Continuing on my previous topic—"

Amosta continued.

"Because the first official OWLS level physical education exam will not begin for another three years, and older students will not be able to catch up, everyone in the classroom, if you pass this year's physical education final exam, you will automatically be eligible for the NEWTS advanced class that I will be offering next semester when you enter sixth grade."

Of course, since the formal courses have ended, you now have the right to withdraw, and I am not forcing any of you to enter the advanced class.

What kind of idiot would give up on getting into the advanced physical education class?

Each young wizard stared intently at Professor Blaine, expressing their unwavering resolve.

Sensing the young wizards' attitude, Amosta smiled, feeling immensely gratified.